Enslaved To A Flame
Chapter 18
Bloody Ledger
William could hear the stadium cheers even from the transport station. The Vytal Festival was in full bloom at this point. Classes were canceled for the celebration, teams were going out to see the matches, enjoy the booths and stalls or just relax together.
William hadn't been able to do that. As the date grew closer his nerves wore ragged. He'd slipped a dozen times, little fractures in his mask. Mostly around Victoria. A few around Leo. Once around Sandra. That had been a disaster.
Sandra had been an impulsive addition, but she had meshed well with the team since then, filling in Leo's partner slot, even if she was still working on her weapon design, something William was impatient for her to finish. It put them behind as a team, though he noticed she was willing to start singing and using her voice in combat practice. She had an impressive range. Debilitating even.
If her and Victoria could ever pair semblances…
The thought trickled away as he heard a motorbike's engine whining softly, the noise just barely coming in through the dull roar of the Festival. William huffed, flexing and wriggling his fingers as he prepared himself for the job.
Two parter. Assassinate. Secure transport. Drop off. Then leave.
Easy enough, even if the transport facility was locked with a security system.
He tore his gaze from the stadium, a weight in his chest settling awkwardly as he found Neo straddling the seat.
He snarled, slipping into the seat behind her. He pushed her up in the seat, demanding more room for his rear, nearly putting her in his lap. A move he couldn't quite pull with someone like Victoria. The action was just fundamentally different. Too awkward. Intimate.
Neo he could throw without a second thought.
His scroll buzzed as Neo pulled away from the station. He eased it out, tightening his grip on the seat with his thighs as he checked the message.
Victoria.
'Where are you?' She even added an emoji. Adorable.
'Busy.' William shot back, the terse reply leaving a sour taste in his mouth.
'Oh'
'Be back after dusk'
'Do you want to talk about it?'
'I want to smoke about it. Rooftop?' William wasn't sure when the rooftop became their usual spot. It simply had. Naturally. Maybe it was because the night sky soothed him and the height a good way to cool his head.
'I'll be waiting. Be careful.'
William locked his screen, sliding it back in his pocket. Neo glanced back at him, but he didn't give her an answer and instead shot her a disgruntled look. She snarled back silently, then took one hand off the wheel, her fingers flashing through a series of ASL movements. A modified system Roman and Neo had come up with for her. William had learned it. Forcibly.
'Drop location in ten seconds.'
William's Aura slid off his frame, coiling around the hoverbike's seat as he leaned back. He fell off the back of the bike, the city expanding below him, rushing up to meet him. The hospital was a few feet to his left, perfect.
He spun, Moonlight Sonata expanding in his hand. Three arrows sung from its string, biting into the bricks at the top of the building. He pulled the wires taunt, pulling himself to the building side. The wires tied off around his waist, keeping himself centered on the building as he dropped towards it.
He let out a slow breath, the air whipping it away from him as he prepared. He'd have a fraction of a second to react.
Less.
He flexed, flicking his wrists. The Aura Blades sprang from the wrist holsters into his waiting palms. Aura buzzed to life, forming the shape he called them to as the rooftop ledge whizzed by.
He swung, the ice axe's point sinking into the brick, jerking his arm around in its socket. The brick shattered as he retracted the wires, pulling his momentum slowly back as his axe cut through to the next level.
He hung for a moment, his legs dangling in front of a window. Then he hauled himself up, digging his second axe into the brick. He hung there, suspended by his wires and his own axes.
He huffed. Neo had let him off on the East side of the building. The target was on this side, but on the eight level, and the third room from the left.
William craned his head up, counting the windows. Twelve story building, two floors above him…
He leaned back, looking down to gauge the distance for his maneuver. He had the distance. Ten feet was plenty.
He pushed off the wall, ripping the climbing axes out of the brick. He spun forward, letting his wires run free as he dropped.
His boots hit the bricks as his rotation brought him back to the building. Steel insoles skid as gravity bit at him. One climbing axe hit the bricks, deflecting off, the other sank into the mortal, finding purchase.
William let out a slow breath, pulling his wires taunt again. Now over. He climbed sideways, every bit as awkward on the bricks as expected. The mortar was old and crumbly, but the bricks were well, leaving him weak holds and awkward reaches. Still, he managed to swing and hold himself to the correct window. He eased down, one hand holding climbing axe, wires tight and trembling as he coiled a wire around his finger. One of his tether lines went slack, and a moment later dust dropped to his right.
William grimaced.
He tightened his grip on the climbing axe, carefully easing the wire on his finger against the window lock. It wasn't an exact science as he pushed the wire though the windowsill, using willpower and strength to bully his way through the gap. Once through he moved it to the window lock, coiling it around it and retracting it. The soft plastic cut neatly, releasing the window.
William eased it opened, slipping inside of the room like a whisper. He crept to the bed where a soft slow beep of a heart monitor masked his footsteps.
The curtain rustled and scrapped against the floor as William pushed it aside, revealing a woman on a hospital bed, hair silvering, but her maroon eyes still fierce despite her condition.
"Maria." William greeted quietly.
The woman slowly moved her gaze from her feet to William, a cruel smile appearing on her lips.
"Roman's hound dog has finally come? I've been waiting." Her voice sounded like scratched records and ashy lungs. A lifetime of smoking cigars and cigarettes, more than a few shared with Roman. "Looking to eliminate an old rival?"
"And too impatient to let time do it for him." William explained, heading over to the Maria's IV drip.
He collapsed his semblance, then re-summoned it in a single glowing blue wire, a coil around his ring finger. Maria hummed softly, though it sounded more like a croak or a wheeze. Lung cancer and throat cancer tended to do that to people.
The wire hanging off William's finger slowly coiled around itself, making a tight little ball, though William made certain that it didn't connect into a loop until it had coiled enough. He wanted it to be quick.
"Are you scared?" William turned his eyes to her maroon ones as he popped the cap on the IV drip. His wire slipped inside, slipping through and into the tube seamlessly.
"I saw this coming as soon as I saw the look in Roman's eyes." Maria replied. "Got a cigarette?"
William shook his head and the former crimelord gave him a look of distaste. She scoffed, even as one of the veins on her wrist turned blue, snaking up her arm to her shoulder and disappearing under her gown.
"Anything else?" William prompted, sensing rather than feeling that the wire was reaching her heart. He eased over, moving his other wrist to hers as he transferred the heart rate sensor to his own wrist.
For just a moment there was an alarming beep, then the smooth steady beep as William's heartrate assured the system everything was alright.
"Tell Roman he can shove my territory and my henchmen up his ass." Maria spat. "And if he wanted to finish off his teacher he should have come himself, not send some stupid little hound."
"I prefer to be called a wolf." William's smooth reply was complimented by the flex of his fingers.
Maria stiffened, a slow confused blink followed by a subtle tremble in her arms. She jerked, opened her mouth, then closed it, collapsing into her pillow, as if hoping it would pass.
Unfortunately, there it wouldn't. Her blood pressure had hit zero. And there definitely wasn't anyway her heart could pick it back up. It was simply in too many pieces for that.
"Sweet dreams." William murmured, watching her maroon eyes fade out, the light darkening, the tension dulling, the feeling escaping her body.
He'd watched people die a number of times. And every time it hit him how the moment the soul left, and life fled, it was a visible. Color drained away, muscles relaxed, eyes dulled, one sigh or desperate gasp, then nothing. A half-whisper of a breath sometimes, every now and then a word. Maria died stoically, taking her death just like anything else she stole, took and bargained for, with authority and pride.
William stood over her corpse for a few minutes, letting the smooth, steady beeps of the heart monitor keep time as he stood over her. He checked the monitor. Seventy bpm. He took a deep breath. Sixty four. Sixty one.
Another breath. Sixty. He held it, letting the counting of his own pulse occupy his thoughts as he waited.
It was an old technique to throw off time of death. Not that the method of death wouldn't throw the doctors for a loop to begin with. A woman died in a hospital with full Aura? And the autopsy revealing her heart in chunks? A medical mystery.
William waited fifteen more minutes, then slid the sensor back to Maria's wrist. The system set to buzzing. William swept out of the curtained area and out the window. He swung out, his axe hanging above the window where he left it. He held on, pushing the window down before setting to work climbing back up the building to the roof.
Part two.
Transport.
William worked slowly, letting the afternoon sun duck behind the last buildings and dusk take the city. A dozen different streetlights flickered on below him, along with a few lights inside of windows. He was extra careful around them, taking the time to find pre-existing cracks or slots in the bricks to climb up with.
When he reached the roof, dusk was fading to night, leaving the rooftop dark except for a few lights around the med hanger. Two medical Bullheads were housed there, with one always waiting on the pad. That one was out, resting on standby at Beacon for the Festival. The other was up for grab.
William strode across the rooftop, gravel crunching lightly under his boots. No one was up here to see this. He stopped a few feet away from the entry panel, a holopanel mounted beside the access door. A camera hung over it, capturing any personnel entering.
William pursed his lips, pulling out his scroll and tapping away at the screen for a few moments. A program Roman had installed booted up, an hourglass appearing on the screen. William point it at the camera, letting the app hack and load the camera. A moment more and it whined, turning up slightly, the feed barely missing the panel.
William used a similar app to hack the panel. He logged the Bullhead out for a medical emergency in the southern sector, logging it as a three day trip. Plenty of time for it to be noticed and dismissed and Roman to return it.
Then again if Roman's plan worked soon enough, it wouldn't matter.
William climbed into the Bullhead, pressing a few buttons and opening the hanger door. He eased the craft out, the engines whining as he restrained them. He pulled free of the hanger and out into the open skies.
For a moment, he entertained the idea of tossing his scroll out the window and taking the Bullhead to some uncharted island or the middle of nowhere. Leaving everything behind and living or dying by his own wits in the wilderness. But he had Victoria, Leo and Sandra now. And Roman knew exactly where to find them, even if he couldn't always find William.
So William pulled the Bullhead around, piloting it over to the shipping district to rendezvous with Cinder and her gang. Neo had another appointment, even though she would be the one who would pilot this thing in.
As he pulled the ship around, he could see Cinder already waiting on the rooftop, her two pets flanking her. He eased it down, careful as he engaged the landing gear and throttled the engines back.
Once it touched down, he killed it, shutting off the systems and opening the bay door. He stepped out, dropping onto the hard rooftop, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"So you're the little wolf Roman has working under him." Cinder cooed, a small smile on her lips. "Aren't you just adorable?"
William gave her a once over, picking apart her appearance. She wore a little red dress, ending just past mid-thigh. For Roman, that might have been a bit of a tease, or even to punk like Mercury. For William, it just reminded him that she likely wanted that freedom of movement for kicks.
Still. She didn't have a weapon on her other than some curiously thin heels. Emerald and Mercury however, were armed.
He walked forward, choosing not to answer as he approached.
Emerald stepped forward to intercept, but Cinder held up a hand. "No. He's fine." She beckoned him closer, and William gave her a sour look.
"Careful." William said, pulling the bullhead keys out of his pocket and tossing them to her. "Wolves are animals that can be trained. You best not try and put me in your little circus, witch."
"Watch your mouth. Cinder could-"Emerald started, but William cut her off with a snort.
"Speak for herself and not let her scared little half-wit sidekick speak for her." William replied, cocking his head and giving Emerald an amused expression.
She glared, scarlet eyes narrowing as her hands reached for her weapons. "Oh I'll show you scared."
"Good. As a girl who's been running from home, living as a street rat and begging for someone to pick her up and give her anything more than passing affection, I think you have first hand experience on scared." William shot back harshly.
Emerald blinked, her hands frozen as her mouth slowly fell open. There was something amusing about letting little details about a person's life slip when they didn't know you knew. And that amusement was so much better when it was the secrets they tried to hide.
Mercury started walked towards him, a snarl on his lips and his eyes narrowed.
"Careful there stilts." William drawled. "I wouldn't want to break your shiny new legs before your match with Yang." Mercury hesitated, then looked to Cinder.
"Test him if you want. I'm interested to seeing how good Roman made you."
Made. That word made William grit his teeth. A fire burned in his stomach. Then chilled to ice and slid into his veins. Oh he was going to make this hurt.
Mercury leapt forward, a childish cry escaping his mouth as he led with a front kick. William ducked under it, slamming his shoulder up under his knee and sending the boy stumbling back, hopping on his good leg as William settled into a better stance.
When Mercury came at him again, a charge that came with a punch, William blocked it, and then the kick that followed with a mirrored one, matching Mercury's bionic leg with one of flesh and bone.
"Don't pop a sprocket." William muttered, watching the rage boil out into Mercury's expression.
Then William was backpedaling, dodging away from Mercury's flurry of kicks and rolling under the axe kicks that cracked the roof tiles. He let Mercury think he was winning. Just until he wasn't.
With a twist, William planted his right leg, spinning as he shot his left leg up in a near split to catch Mercury's latest axe kick. The steel heel of his boot smashed into Mercury's ankle, and with a yowl, he hit the ground on his back, cursing.
"Busted the casing!"
William took a step towards him, unsurprised as Mercury rolled forward, sprining into a rolling roundhouse at his legs. William let him, taking that momentum and using it to grasp Mercury's skull and plant it back onto the roof. The he straddled him, Aura Blade popping into his hand and buzzing to life.
Bullets peppered the ground around William, and the Blade shifted into a bucker as he rolled off Mercury, catching a few of them with the shield. He expanded it slightly, peering through the blue Aura to sight Emerald firing from a 'safe distance.' He snorted at that but tucked and rolled again before breaking off in a perpendicular sprint to her.
She kept firing at him, giving Mercury distance to get back to his feet, unaware that William wanted that distance as well. She took her eyes off him just once to check on her friend. But once was all William needed.
He spun, sliding the buckler off his arm and sending it zinging through the air like a frisbee at her. When she looked back and ducked, he'd already compensated for it, flexing the wire he'd attached to it and changing the angle of flight. It caught her in the throat, knocking her down as the Aura shifted to pin her.
He drew and spun Moonlight Sonata, twirling it into bow form as Mercury started towards him. He started gently, pegging Mercury with three arrows that sliced through his pants and stuck him to the roof. Those ripped free easily, but made him stumbed on his next step. The next arrow hit his bracer, and the follow-up cut through his belt.
William knocked another arrow as Mercury got in range to hit back, knowing full and well what Mercury's target would be.
The kick swiped at the bow, and William jerked it back, letting Mercury's foot sweep through the air. He shifted his aim, then fired, putting a blunt tipped arrow into the back of Mercury's boot that sent him another half spin around and crashing onto the ground. William planted a boot on him, pulling the string back as another arrow materialized on it.
"Think you need a few more kills under your belt before you go after me boy." William advised.
"Enough!" Cinder called. "That's enough. I just wanted to test you." William eased the bowstring forward, dispelling the arrow as he stepped off Mercury. A flick of his wrist and the buckler came free from Emerald and back to William's hand. He spun Moonlight Sonata back to its blade and dropped it onto its holster.
William snorted, then glanced at Cinder. "I'll leave you to pick up your brats. You should train them a bit better for the line of work you're in." He turned on his heels. "Neo will be around to pick up the Bullhead later. I'm just the drop off." He waved, ducking through the stairwell door. "Oh." He paused, looking back. "Good luck on your match Mercury." He smiled. "Break a leg."
"Damn you –" William slammed the door, cutting off Mercury's rebuttal. He laughed a bit, shaking his head as he started down the stairs. He checked his scroll for the time. 11:54, next shuttle was at 12:20. He could make it back in time. It was only three or so miles to the station anyway. The only matter of concern was if Victoria would be waiting on him when he got back.
_
Alright. So. As you can tell. I've been… working on other projects. Things come and go. And I figured… Well. The right mood struck me and I had most of this written anyway. So I finished it up and here we are.
William is hard for me to write. He just is now. They say you put a piece of yourself into every good character you write. Well. William was my depression, anxiety and self-loathing all rolled into one. He was a lot of my problems. And now that, well. To put it simply-things have changed, he's different. Not as easy to connect with and get a feel for. He's harder to write.
And part of me doesn't want to write him anymore. The story I planned out for him has too much pain, too much sorrow and agony for me to feel comportable dropping on him. Sure, I planned for a somber, but neat ending for this whole thing. But I don't know if I can make it through that.
I know where William will end up. And I know how and why and when. I just don't know if I can write that anymore. And I don't think I have the drive to write this anymore. A lot of things have changed. About this story. About my passion for RWBY in general. And it's… tapered off. Significantly. I don't like a lot of the decisions being made (or not being made) in the show. With artifacts, characters, plots, plans, reactions. Whatever. And as a result, there's a lot less passion for me to do anything with a story relating to that universe.
So. Sorry. If you're curious about what William's story line and ending would have been. I'll give you the spoilers, just PM me. As it stands. I might update this. I might not. Just depends on how it hits me. I might upload all the old, tweak it a bit, and suffer through writing a conclusion of sorts. Or I might upload a summary of the ending and story.
Either way. I'm sorry it's taken so long. And I'm sorry I likely won't finish.
~Shadowed Sword Signing off~